Türkiye is set to put the natural gas it discovered in the Black Sea into use as of April 21, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez said Saturday, adding that the efforts in this regard are underway.
"Our team is preparing to land the Black Sea gas in Filyos on the last day of Ramadan. We are working diligently to ensure everything is in place for a successful operation," he said.
In December, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that the drillship Fatih had discovered an additional 58 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas reserves at a depth of 3,023 meters (9,917 feet) at the Çaycuma 1 block in the Black Sea.
He noted that Türkiye’s natural gas reserves in the Black Sea are measured at 710 bcm, with a market value of $1 trillion (TL 18.75 trillion).
Ankara aims to pump the gas to the national grid in 2023, the centennial of modern Türkiye, with sustained plateau production beginning in 2027-2028.
Türkiye operates two seismic research ships, the Oruç Reis and the Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa, and three drillships: Fatih, Kanuni, and Yavuz. The three drilling vessels are expected to join hands soon and work simultaneously in the Black Sea to expedite utilizing the natural gas discovered in the region.
In 2022, the country drilled 94 exploration wells and 56 production wells. In 2023, according to previous statements from the energy minister, the government will have 207 wells with 134 exploration and 73 production centers.
Meanwhile, Dönmez also commented on different energy projects that the country currently carries out.
He said they would deliver fresh nuclear fuel to the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in Mersin on April 27.
"This is an important milestone, as the plant will soon become fully operational. Our team has been working tirelessly to ensure that all necessary preparations have been made," he said.
Although the country’s new Floating LNG Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) ship to be docked at Saros bay off the shores of Çanakkale has also arrived, Dönmez said, they were unable to open it in the aftermath of recent earthquakes that hit Türkiye’s southeastern regions on Feb. 6, affecting 11 provinces.
"We will provide further updates on this as soon as possible," he said.
All these developments have come as the country has been trying to diversify its energy sources and reduce foreign dependency.
The new FSRU ship, Vasant, is the third ship operational in the country.
The ship will serve at Turkish Petroleum Pipeline Company’s (BOTAŞ) Saros FSRU Terminal.
The ship has a total LNG storage capacity of 180,000 cubic meters and a daily gasification capacity of 28 million cubic meters. The Vasant is 294 meters (964.57 feet) long, 48 meters wide, and 63 meters high.
Türkiye’s first FSRU, operated by Etki Liman in Izmir, was inaugurated in March 2017. The facility has a daily capacity of 28 million cubic meters of gas to the grid.
The FSRU terminal in Hatay Dörtyol has been in service since 2018. Ertuğrul Gazi, the first FSRU registered in the Turkish Maritime Registry, operates with an LNG storage capacity of 170,000 cubic meters and a gasification capacity of 28 million cubic meters daily.
Dönmez also said they had completed Europe’s largest solar power plant project in Konya’s Karapınar district.
The deal for the Kalyon Karapınar Solar Power Plant (SPP) was signed between Türkiye’s Kalyon Energy with Britain’s export credit agency U.K. Export Finance (UKEF), JPMorgan Chase and six Turkish banks, including Denizbank, Garanti BBVA, Işbank, Development Investment Bank of Türkiye, Industrial Development Bank of Türkiye (TSKB) and VakıfBank in 2021.
The 1.35 gigawatts (GW) Karapınar solar project will deliver clean electricity to approximately 2 million Turkish households.
The plant will prevent 1.5 million tons of carbon emissions annually and, by the end of 2022, increase the share of solar energy in Türkiye’s total energy production by 20%.